All eBooks Are Not Created Equal

I got a nasty surprise when I purchased an “ebook” version of a climbing manual this week.

I thought it was going to be great. I could load it up, along with other guidebooks and reference books, onto my Kobo, and have them all at my disposal on a small, lightweight, and waterproof device that’s easy-to-read in the sun. I’d toss that in my climbing pack any day! But nope, it turns out I purchased a license to read the book through an app, and not even a good one at that. Sure, I can read it on my iPad and iPhone, but it’s not the DRM-free version that I’d been expecting. I suppose I’ll do some digging for a version I can load onto my Kobo, but it left a sour taste in my mouth — like I’d been duped.

This isn’t the outcome I was expecting from this experience, but more and more I’m wondering if I should have just stuck with the Kindle ecosystem. It simply has access to more books, which is the whole point. Ugh.